stolen lap at LeMans 66??

[ALF]

I did start to read some part on the Ken Miles book from Dave Friedman. On the part about LeMans 1966 some points did surprise me as they were new to me.

Ken was ONE LAP AHEAD at the finish of the race!
“Passino sent Cowley down to the scorer and timer’s tower and told them we had mis-credited a lap on Ken’s car and to take a lap away from the car.”
They’ve stolen Ken a lap and the victory!

Do you’ve any details/facts on this????

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

I'd like to hear more about this. I've read plenty over the years, and I know Henry didn't want Miles in the race at all. Please elaborate...

[jetblue69]

Ken was screwed by Ford because he wasn't a team player and wasn't a face that Ford wanted to represent the brand... Don't get me wrong, he's my second favorite race car driver right behind Jackie Stewart but he was very brash, quite the rebel, and had a short fuse. Anyone can spin this story however they want but Ken was given the mortadella now matter how you look at it just so Ford could keep their "image."

And I stand behind that statement more so now due to the issues I've had with my brand new vehicle I purchased and have had nothing but problems that they refuse to support or address, but that's another story in itself. Obviously this makes me more biased against Ford but so be it. Ford is about Ford and their namesake and could care less about it's customers. I guess the tradition carries on.

[Harpoon PV2]

I think this article sums it up pretty well, from the perspective of those that were there! From The Archives: Who Really Won Le Mans Yes there was a stolen lap, which all came down to a lot of FoMoCo crap! It was stolen from pore Ken. I like Carrol Smith, Shelby team managers, advice to Ken, ‘I don’t know what they told you, but you won’t be fired for winning Le Mans.’ I kind of feel sorry for Dan Gurney, he followed the orders to the letter, knowing it would mean he had no chance of winning, just an overheated Ford engine!